About the Coverwall

From John and Yoko to Miley Cyrus, Annie Leibovitz to David LaChapelle, the cover of Rolling Stone has always been an art form in its own right. Now you can explore all our covers, and read full articles from classic issues dating back to our 1967 launch in our brand-new Cover Wall.
Explore the Coverwall »

While YouTube users continue to angrily speak out against Warner Music Group, who pulled the audio from their artists' songs off all videos on the site due to a royalty dispute, one rocker is coming to the label's defense: Neil Young. The legend argues on his blog that WMG is the victim of an outdated contract and shouldn't be demonized for hitting the mute button on all Warner-licensed music on the 'Tube.

"Warner Reprise records was one of the very first to embrace YouTube. YouTube was in its fledgling stages when Warner made an early deal to work with them. Today, other labels have made more lucrative deals for their artists at You Tube," Young writes. "YouTube is the new radio... but not quite. Radio used to introduce music to the masses and was crucial to every new release, with identical compensation for every artist and label. Since YouTube has given some labels better deals that others, the Media Giant is treating artists unequally, depending on which label they are on."

Why didn't Warner Music just say that from the start? It's been a month and a half since WMG videos were muted, but it took until now for Young, who is signed to Warner's Reprise Records, to provide us with some perspective. "It is time for industry wide standards of artist's compensation on the Web. Reprise and Warner Bros. artists deserve what artists from other labels are getting," Young concludes. "Let the people decide what constitutes success. Warner Bros and Reprise are looking for a level playing field. Until they get one, these problems may not go away. That is the essence of the issue between Warner Bros Reprise and You Tube."